For the Love of Hermione
by MrsRonaldBWeasley
Summary: Hermione loves Ron. But he's dating someone else...Harry is acting strangely, and he also falls in love with someone. The story is better than the summary! Read and review! CHAPTER 5 UP!
1. Love?

**A/N: Hey everyone, hope you like my story. I hope it turns out good and I get loads of reviews. _hint hint. _Well enjoy! And don't forget to review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters! Everything is JK Rowling's. I'm just using them!**

Hermione woke with a start. _I know I love him! But I can't tell him._ She thought to herself. _Yes, you can! If you don't, how is he ever going to know?_ Came another thought. _He's dating someone!_ It was like she was arguing with herself. _Oh I don't know what to do..._ And she went back to sleep. She had just dreamt about Ron. Ron her best friend, Ron, with who she always argued, stubborn Ron. And yet, she knew, somewhere inside, some feeling that she had never felt before, was madly and deeply in love with him.

Hermione was staying at the Burrow for a couple days before the start of term. Harry was as well. They were starting their seventh year at Hogwarts.

"Hermione? Are you okay?" came a distant voice from somewhere to Hermione's left. "What? Oh, oh yeah, I'm fine Ron." She had dozed off slightly during breakfast on the morning they would all be back on the Hogwarts Express. Ron gave her a puzzling look, shook his head a little, and went back to talking to Harry about the Gryffindor Quidditch team this year, as Harry was the new captain.

The Burrow was busy that morning. Everyone was doing a bit of last minute packing, checking that they had everything. That is, everybody except Hermione. _Why Ron? Why am I in love with him? Why not someone else? _She was thinking about Ron again. Hermione was out sitting on the garden bench away from the others, and, Ron.

"Oh, hi Harry." Said Hermione about five minutes later when she heard someone sit down next to her. "Hey Hermione. What's wrong? You seem kind of, well, depressed lately. Want to talk about it? It always helps me." "Oh thanks, Harry, but it's nothing...you wouldn't understand..." She added with a little sniffle. Some part of her desperately wanted to tell Harry everything, and another part wanted to keep it all to herself. "Hermione, I'm your best friend, right?" Harry asked. "Yeah of course Harry, you and Ron. But why?" "Then you can trust me. That's what best friends are for, to help each other out. But if you really don't want to tell me, if it's that embarrassing, then fine. I'll just keep my mouth shut." _Maybe I should just tell him. He's right, it won't do anything but help. I hope._ "Well...okay. But Harry, you have to promise me that you won't tell a soul, especially not Ron. Please will you do that?" "Sure Mione. I promise."

"I'm in love with Ron. I think I have been since First year, on the train when I told him he had dirt on his nose...actually I know I've loved him since then, I just wasn't smart enough to realize. And now we're starting our Seventh year and I haven't said a word. I can't believe he's dating Lavender! She's not his type. It's been since they've been dating that I have really realized how much I am in love with Ron...and yet there is nothing I can do about it." They sat there in silence for a few minutes. A couple of tears trickled quietly down Hermione's face. "Now you have to promise me something, Hermione." This wasn't exactly what Hermione was expecting, but nevertheless, she was willing to promise whatever it was. "Okay, Harry, I promise..." "That you will not tell Ron or anybody else that I am going to tell you that Ron has been in love with you since that day on the train."

"What?" Hermione asked, eyes wide open in shock. _This can't be happening. Why in the world is he dating Lavender if he's been in love with me? _"Then tell me why on earth is he dating Lavender?" She said, more as a command than a question. "Well Hermione, he thought there was no hope for you two, I think he's just dating her because he wants to see if he really loves you or not, maybe try to get his mind off you, but it's not working. He's planning on breaking up with her today on the train." And with that, Harry got up to leave a confused and shocked Hermione sitting on the bench alone. Shortly after, she got up and went inside out of the chilly air.

It was time to leave for the station. Mr. Weasley had borrowed a couple of cars from the Ministry to haul everyone to Kings Cross. "Everyone got their trunks? Pets? Books? Everything? Okay, good, let's load up then!" Mrs. Weasley was saying to them all. Soon everybody was loaded safely in the Ministry cars. Fred and George came along to see them off as well.

"I have to admit, you two really do have a great joke shop. It's really very creative." Hermione said to the twins. "Hear that George? The Head Girl approves!" "Thank you Hermione, really, it's nice of you to say that." Said George, and they beamed at her. "Yeah, especially because your chewing a Ton-Tongue Toffee right as we speak!" "What? Oh no!" and she gave them a disapproving, angry look. "Well I would be angry too!" piped up Ginny. "Ya know, it's a good thing mum and dad aren't in here. But they do say turkeys can walk around a while after their heads are cut off..." joked Ron and everyone laughed a little. "aaarrgghh!" There was a long thin purple tongue coming out of Hermione's mouth. She glared at Fred and George as much as possible. "Fix it!" Ginny yelled at the twins. "Oh alright." So Fred put her tongue back to normal. Hermione noticed that Harry had been staring out the window the whole time, something that no one else seemed to see.

_Can't this just be a good day? It was when Harry told me about-er-Ron this morning..._ Hermione thought to herself. The rest of the car ride was silent. Usually everybody liked Fred and George's tricks. Not this time. "That one wasn't actually us! We'll play tricks on people, yeah, but none of you guys, you should know that by now!" George argued. "Well they have a point. There was a bowl of gum sitting out on the counter so I just grabbed one." She wasn't in the mood for being stubborn or angry. "See guys? Thank you Hermione!" Said Fred, sounding relieved.

Just then, they arrived at the station. Everyone said goodbye, Fred and George apologizing one more time. "Have a good year you kids!" Called Fred and George together. "Stay out of trouble!" Said Mrs. Weasley. "Good luck with those NEWTs!" Said Mr. Weasley.

When they got on the train, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny went down the hall to find an empty compartment while Ron went to find Lavender.

**A/N: muahaha! Cliff hanger! Well sort of...haha. I hope you liked it! Now it's time to review! Come on, you know you want to! :-)**


	2. Bad day

**A/N: Hey everybody, thanks for the reviews! I'm so glad you like my story! So keep on readin' and reviewin'. :-) **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or anything else dealing with Harry Potter except characters I create!**

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**A/N: I'll occasionally be going back and forth from Hermione's to Ron's point of view. Okay read on!**

**From chapter one: **When they got on the train, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny went down the hall to find an empty compartment while Ron went to find Lavender.

"Here's an empty compartment. Let's go in there." Said Ginny. Harry and Hermione followed her in and Harry put everyone's luggage up on the luggage rack. "Where is Ron going?" Ginny asked. "Oh, he-erm-had to go find Lavender." At this Hermione let out a silent little "hmpf." "What's wrong Hermione? You've been awfully quiet today." Ginny asked, a little concerned. "Oh..it's nothing, really. Well I should probably be doing Head Girl duties now, see you guys later." "Okay, see ya soon." _Could this day get any worse? _

Meanwhile...

"Hey, Lavender." Ron said quietly. "Oh Ronnie! I missed you so much! How are you?" Oh, I'm pretty good, yeah...how about you?" "I'm great! Oh Ronnie you're so adorable. I wish we started dating sooner!" She batted her eyes in a flirty fashion. "Um, yeah, I suppose..." Ron said uneasily, shifting his weight. The next thing he knew, Lavender had closed her lips on Ron's and her hand was ruffling through her hair. She was pressed up against him so hard a toothpick wouldn't stand a chance between them. _What the bloody hell is she doing? Girls can be so strange! And I'm in love with Hermione! Oh well, it might be last kiss I get in a while so might as well make the most of it. Sorry Mione. _And Ron wrapped his arms around her lower back, occasionally going a bit lower. _I'm sure Hermione is a less sloppy and a better kisser than this. Oh what am I doing?! I have to stop this! I'm supposed to be breaking up with her not snogging her! _

But it was too late. Ron and Lavender were standing in the middle of the hallway, the very same end of the hallway in which Hermione had to walk through. She saw them right before Ron broke away from Lavender. She saw them making out, right there in front of her. She saw the lusty look on Lavender's face but turned around so fast that she didn't see the alarmed and ashamed look on Ron's face. He was ashamed that he let Lavender do that. "Hermione, wait!" He called out. But she wasn't turning around. She left him staring after her, dumbstruck at what had just happened. Then he said goodbye to Lavender and went to find Harry and Ginny. _Merlin's beard! I'm really good at screwing things up. Well I guess I shouldn't break up with Lavender yet, after that uncalled for snog session. I am such an idiot! _

Back to Hermione...

_What in the world is he playing at? I can't believe this. This has been the worst day of my life. Why do I have to be in love with Ron Weasley? He is such an idiot. _Hermione was sobbing almost uncontrollably. And to make matters worse, she met the worst three people to cheer up the situation onthe way back to her compartment."What's this? The mudblood's crying is she? Wow, I didn't know the awful things had feelings!" Said Malfoy to a chorus of laughter from him and his two thuggish cronies, Crabbe and Goyle. "Shut up Malfoy!" She yelled. Then she grabbed the arm of his robes with both hands and forcefully flung him to the ground, where he lay whimpering. _WHY CAN'T THIS DAY JUST END?! _

Hermione spent the rest of the train ride locked in the toilets. She got off the train as soon as possible and made a point to avoid Ron at all costs. She didn't talk to any of her friends that night, skipped dinner, and went up to bed early, crying her eyes out but managed to close her bed hangings and fall asleep before Lavender or anyone else got there.

At the start of term feast...

Ginny, Ron, and Harry rode up to the castle in a Thestral drawn buggy with Neville and Luna. They didn't really talk much, it was pouring outside and they were all tired and hungry.

Ron felt miserable at the feast. He only half heard what Dumbledore was saying. Some stuff about no one being allowed in the Forest, a list of things that are forbidden from the school was hanging on Filch's office door, his usual little joke, and the announcement of the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. But none of it really mattered to him at that time. All he could think about was Hermione, and it was driving him mad. He ate most of his food half-heartedly, which is unusual for Ron. "Oh Ronnie, isn't this lovely? Ronnie?" "Huh? What? Oh, yeah...ya know what Lavender, I think I'm gonna head up to bed now...See ya tomorrow..."And with that, he got up and walked out of the Great Hall. "What, I don't even get a goodnight kiss now? Hmpf."

Ron got up to his bed thinking, _how can today be any worse? Oh yeah, tomorrow probably will be. What with Hermione in all my classes and all. _And he fell fast asleep as soon as he hit the pillow, fully dressed.

**A/N: Hey! I hope you liked chappie 2. It's kinda sad, I know, but it will all work out in the end! Now it's time to REVIEW! So what are you waiting for? ;-)**


	3. Early Morning Arguments

**A/NHey! Sorry it took me sooooooo long to get this chappie up! I'm sure you all were on the edge of your seats waiting for this. Just joking! Anway, I've been really busy with school and whatnot and just kept putting off doing this, but here it is! Enjoy!**

**DisclaimerI do not own Harry Potter or anything related to Harry Potter...the great magnificent splendid wonderful excellent J.K. Rowling does!**

Hermione woke up long before anyone else in the dormitory the next morning. She decided to get up and go for an early morning walk to try to clear her mind a bit before she had to go to class. She felt considerably better than she had the previous night, although not looking forward to all her classes with Ron.

Ron woke up bright and early. Everybody else in the dormitory was still asleep, Neville snoring loudly. He decided he would slip out of the room to go for a walk, perhaps around the grounds, to try and figure out what he was going to do. Before leaving, he sat in front of the fire in the common room to warm up.

Hermione came down the stairs. She saw Ron and felt a twinge of disgust towards him. "Hermione..." he said. She tried to stay calm, and not lose her head. "Yes?" she said impatiently. "Hermione, can I talk to you?" _How nice, now he wants to talk. _she said to her self. "Oh really? you want to talk to me do you? Why don't you go talk to Lavender, and snog her while you're at it!" Hermione spat out furiously. "What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean? Do you really think I WANTED to kiss her on the train yesterday? Because I didn't! She just came at me!" Ron shot back. He was standing up now. "Oh yeah Ron, I could really tell you didn't want to be there. You looked SO miserable." "I'm sorry Hermione. The only reason I went to find her is because I was going to break up with her, but then she bloody jumped on me and started snogging me and I didn't know how to make her stop!" Ron said, apologetically. "Didn't know how to make her stop? That's rich! I can't believe I'm hearing this! Didn't know how to make her stop! hmpf." And with that she stormed out of the portrait hole with nothing but a glower back at Ron.

Ron just stood there, looking both angry and sad, like he'd just lost one of the most important things he'd ever had in his life, and like it would take more than magic to get it back. He headed back up to the dormitory and lay on his bed, too upset to do anything else.

Meanwhile, Hermione went out onto the grounds and down to the lake, where she sat down on a rock to think. _Maybe I'm getting a little carried away. But still, Ron is mental! If he does love me, then why in the world is he doing this? I just want to crawl under this rock and stay there. What am I doing? I'm Hermione Granger! I've got to hold my head high and be strong! This isn't like me at all. Though they say love does do funny things to you...._She sighed and continued to stare out into the beautiful, peaceful lake.

"Ron, Ron! What are you doing? Hello? Are you awake or what?" Ron was staring up into the face of his best friend, Harry. Along with three other faces as well, although he hadn't noticed any of them until they started yelling at him. "Oh, hello Harry." looks to his left Hello Neville, Dean, Seamus. Nice day isn't it?" he said somewhat sarcastically. "Um..Ron? Are you okay? You seem a little...off..." Harry said. "Yeah mate, you've been sort of mumbling for a while now. We thought you'd gone mental." Neville said, with a sharp elbow in his ribs from Dean. Ron frowned and said, "Hermione hates me." Then he launched into the story of what had taken place in the common room earlier. When he was done, there was silence. Then from Seamus; "Ouch mate, I'm sorry about that." "Girls are so strange..." Neville said with a thoughtful look about him. "Maybe I should talk to her. Try to set things straight you know?" Harry added. "Thanks mate, but I think I've got to handle this on my own." Ron replied. Harry looked at him with concen, and Ron said with a half hearted smile, "I'm okay, really. I'll be fine." Then they headed down to breakfast.

Hermione was already there. When she saw the boys coming towards her, she turned back around and ignored them. Harry sat down next to her, with Ron next to him, and the other three boys on the other side of Ron. "Good morning, Hermione." Harry said, smiling at her. "I suppose so. I assume you've heard about the incident in the common room then?" she said glumly. "As a matter of fact, I have." Hermione sighed. Harry tried to get them to join him in a conversation, but neither of them seemed to want to talk. "You two are hopeless." Harry said under his breath. Nobody seemed to notice the new teacher sitting up at the staff table, who was looking inquisitively at Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Nobody that is, except Harry. They locked eyes for a moment, and there was a feeling of safety and almost happiness within Harry. The next thing they knew, breakfast was over and the timetables were being handed out by Professor McGonagall.

**A/NHope you liked it! This chapter was kind of hard to write...hope its good! Now stop wasting time and review!!!! :-)**


	4. New faces

**A/N: I AM SO SORRY to those of you who were reading this for not updating more recently! I just kind of forgot about it one day or was just too lazy to write anything, but I'm back! ENJOY!**

**Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling, not to me or anybody else.**

Hermione left the Great Hall as soon as she could. Her first class was Defense Against the Dark Arts, with Harry and Ron. But she tried to avoid them, especially Ron. She chose a desk in the middle of the classroom and immediately began taking her books and things out of her bag.

Harry had been trying to catch up with her the whole way to class, and he took a seat next to her. He wanted to ask her if she noticed the new teacher at the staff table in the Great Hall. "No, I didn't notice a new teacher." Hermione said. She suddenly had a strange feeling in her gut, but she couldn't place it. "Well he's obviously the new DADA teacher, I remember Dumbledore saying something about him last night but I don't remember seeing him. Maybe he's just arrived in the morning..."

Ron arrived in class right before the bell rang. He sat down next to Harry, trying to avoid eye contact with Hermione. "Where were you?" Harry whispered to Ron. "Finishing a biscuit!" He said, like it was the most important thing in the world and why didn't Harry realize this? Harry chortled.

Still no sign of a teacher.

Hermione took this opportunity to start reading chapter one of her DADA book. It also gave her a break from thinking about Ron.

5 minutes later...Hermione is reading, Harry is lost deeply in thought, Ron is almost asleep, and there is still no teacher. The rest of the class is starting to get restless.

Finally, 5 minutes later, 10 minutes after class started, the door opened. It opened quietly, almost sheepishly. The same person that was sitting up at the staff table was coming down the stairs from his office. He was fairly young, probably around 30 years old. He had jet black hair and green eyes. The man was tall and thin, yet muscular at the same time. His eyes were dark, but not in an evil way. They looked tired, yet excited at the same time. He was wearing dark emerald green robes, which seemed to match his eyes exactly.

Harry had the strange feeling again. He felt safe in the presence of this man, and he didn't even know his name. Not safe in an odd way, the kind of safety you feel when you are with a parent. The only other person that made him feel safe like this was Sirius. It was all so strange.

The whole class quieted down when they saw the teacher. He had the air of a very noble and respectable man. Some people looked at Harry after studying the teacher for a moment, yet Harry didn't understand why.

"I'm sorry to be so late, it is most unacceptable for a teacher to be late to class, especially on the first day of the term. Well, as you all are probably wondering, my name is Professor Berkeley. I'll start off the day by telling you a little about myself. I am from Scotland, where all my family lives. Professor Dumbledore is a friend of my grandfather's, and quickly offered me the job to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, and I couldn't refuse. So here I am! I have studied the topic for many years, and I find it most interesting. I went to Hogwarts myself, actually, and I had a great teacher in this subject, which inspired me to want to teach it."

He spoke in a nice even tone, which made what he had to say seem less boring. Soon after he was finished introducing himself, he set the class to work on reading chapter 1 in their books. Then tomorrow they would have an activity of some kind based on the information in the chapter.

"Good class, don't you think?" Harry said as they got out into the hall. "Yeah, pretty good...he's not bad, that one. Maybe if we're lucky he'll be here more than a year..." Hermione didn't say anything. She was just happy to have had her mind mostly off Ron for a while.

The rest of the school day went by in a blur. All their other classes for the day consisted of Transfiguration, Arithmancy, (Harry and Ron finally gave in and decided to give it a go) Care of Magical Creatures-the class learned about magical insects today, some of which looked like spiders and nearly scared Ron to death, and last, Herbology.

"Its lucky we didn't have potions today" Ron said to Harry at the end of the day as they sat in the common room by the fire. Harry nodded.

Hermione wanted so badly to talk to Ron, to tell him how she felt, and she almost did one time. If it weren't for someone setting off some sort of popping thing across the room. This was a new one. And for once, Hermione was glad for the stupid little exploding things, she even loved them because this time it saved her from confronting Ron. The feeling was gone, the moment was gone. She didn't want to talk to him anymore.

Hermione couldn't just sit there, so close to Ron. She just couldn't. It was upsetting for her. She loved him, but at the moment she felt like she hated him. She got up, said, "Goodnight, Harry," then, trying to be polite, she attempted to say goodnight to Ron, but it came out as a funny little squeak and an odd look on her face, and she walked away.

_Why does everything have to be so damn difficult? Why can't I just come out with it? This is so irritating. _

She went into the dormitory, got onto her bed, and closed the curtains around her. She didn't feel like making any human contact until she absolutely had to.

**A/N: I hope you liked it...Its different from the other chapters, and it was another difficult one. But I hope you all enjoyed it! Leave some reviews...? please...:-)  
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	5. Good for nothing

**A/N: So I have to admit, chapter 4 isn't my best. And the lack of reviews helped me see that, which is okay, that way I'll know when I don't do so good all the time. So here's chapter 5, hopefully it makes up for some of the suckiness of chappie 4. Okay, it didn't suck, but I can do better. So I really hope you enjoy, and REVIEW:-D**

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter+everything relatednot mine**

As Hermione lay on her bed, she thought about all the different things that had happened that first day back at Hogwarts. _It could have been a lot worse, I suppose..._ She thought to herself. And indeed she was right.

She started thinking about the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher. Why did he look so much like Harry? Was he a relative, or was it just a coincidence? It was very odd to Hermione. She wasn't one to just leave it as a coincidence, for it didn't even feel like just that.

Soon her mind drifted back onto Ron, the very thing she didn't like thinking about because it hurt so much. _If I really love him, I won't let him go. _She decided. _Tomorrow morning, first thing, I'm going to apologise to him, and try to make things right. Yes, I have to do it. I can't chicken out this time. _She lay there thinking of what she was going to say, and she felt herself getting drowsy. After a few more minutes, she fell into a half asleep-half awake state.

Suddenly, a door slammed outside of her dreaming bubble, and it brought her back to the present, away from her day dreaming. Her eyes were alert, and she lay still to see who had slammed the dormitory door so loudly.

"The fucking BASTARD! Why would he do this to me? WHY?"

Hermione was confused to who this may be at first. Then she recognised the voice to be Lavender's. Then she wondered why Lavender was so upset, but then she realized that it must have something to do with Ron. She kept still and listened.

Hermione heard Parvati say somewhat quietly, "Lavender! Oh Lavender, what's happened?"

"That stupid good for nothing WEASLEY!"

"What's he done?"

"What he's DONE is he's gone and DUMPED me! And do you know why? Because he's fucking in love with someone else!" _How dare him,_ thought Hermione.

"Oh Lavender! I am SO sorry! But you know, it was going to happen eventually..." Parvati trailed off, as if thinking about something else. _Right now, I love you Parvati._ Hermione found herself thinking. She then made a mental note to smack herself, she shouldn't like somebody for such a reason.

"Well...well yeah, but why would he want to dump ME? I'm popular! I'm pretty! Everybody thinks so! You'd think I'd be the one dumping HIM! And who in the world could Ron Weasley possibly be bloody in love with? I mean, its not like he's even romantic. He's just...just...he's just Ron!" The last sentence filled Hermione with cold fury. She could hear that Lavender lay crying on her bed now. Parvati seemed to be keeping quiet but then-

"Lavender, I'm sorry this happened. I'm sorry he broke up with you, but its going to be okay. You can find someone better anyway! And I don't think Ron was exactly a good match for you...he's not really your type." _No, he's most definitely not!_ Thought Hermione.

She was fit to burst. This was just so annoying, obviously Lavender was more worried about her appearance and popularity status more than anything else, which was the opposite of Hermione.

"But _really_, who does he think he's so madly in _love_ with? _Granger_, no doubt." Parvati said nothing to this, and just sniffed. Hermione always thought she had been on good terms with Lavender, but apparently not. She couldn't keep her anger in any longer and before she knew it, she snapped. She yanked the curtains out of the way, and hopped off of her bed.

"How dare you say such things about Ron! You don't even know him! And why couldn't he be in love with me? Maybe he is! He never loved you, you selfish little prat! I don't know how he could actually stand dating you, let alone knowing you. YOU are the selfish good for nothing little brat!"

Neither Lavender nor Parvati knew Hermione was still in the room, and this came as a big shock to both of them. Their eyes were both huge in disbelief. And with that, Hermione turned and ran out of the dormitory, and it was her turn to slam the door behind her.

She tried not to cry, but she couldn't help it.

She walked, (more like stomped) down to the common room, where Ron, and only Ron, was sitting, looking into the fire with a slight look of disgust and a look of emptiness and loneliness in his eyes. For once in the past couple of days, she was happy to see him.

And this feeling of true happiness made her start crying even harder. She took a seat across from him at the fireplace, and it took a moment before Ron totally realized she was there.

"Oh...Hey Hermione." he said quietly and cautiously while half looking up at her.

"Hi Ron." she managed to squeak out, not really looking at him. Not really looking at anything.

**A/N: heheheeeeee! A cliffhanger! I love leaving you in suspense, it makes for more comments. (and more readers, I must say!) Well I had a lot of fun writing this one. I think my little writer's block is officially gone. Thanks for reading!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


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